‘The Following’ Season 4 was Cancelled by Fox Because the TV Series Became a Victim of Lazy Writing!

When in doubt, blame the writer.

Even though in TV, not one word, one idea, one storyline or arc, ever makes it to the screen without being approved (and many times demanded) by a menagerie of executives.

Read it and weep, future scapegoats:

by Kazem Sedighzadeh

Season 4 of the American thriller drama TV series “The Following” starring Kevin Bacon was cancelled by Fox just days after its Season 3 finale aired on May 18 last year.

While many attributed the cancellation to poor ratings of the TV series that started to show beginning in its second season, critics think that “The Following,” just like many other shows before it, has fallen victim to lazy writing, notes Variety.

Based on its two-hour Season 3 finale, “The Following” actually reflected how it squandered its assets, with the end coming two years and many dozens of killings, which was a bit too late.

The mind games between Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy and James Purefoy’s Joe Caroll may have been the lifeblood of the show, but “The Following” overstayed its welcome among many of its viewers and had a grim streak beginning in Season 2 all the way to Season 3.

The series should have ended with the cat-and-mouse game between Hardy and Caroll but the show’s modest first season success necessitated a new season and new wrinkles as well, thus unleashing several rival sets of psychopaths to sustain the program in the next two seasons.

Eventually, everyone realized that the show was using a very tired formula so it wandered off from its basic premise as Ryan begin to go a bit crazy himself especially when his nemesis Caroll was finally executed.

With Purefoy’s character gone, there was not much for the show to move forward to because of the apparent lazy writing as the writers no longer want to think outside of the box, thus confining the show to its own walls.

While “The Following” had a solid cast of supporting actors including Shawn Ashmore, the TV show actually wasted great talents like Zuleikha Robinson and Jessica Stroup, who became mere footnotes in the TV series….